tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6473579720535180332.post6631545254461095404..comments2023-03-21T06:42:58.267-05:00Comments on Mindless Math Mutterings: Music to my ears...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6473579720535180332.post-48875081356457683202007-07-06T12:55:00.000-05:002007-07-06T12:55:00.000-05:00The chasm between mathematicians andeducators must...The chasm between mathematicians and<BR/>educators must be bridged if our children are to be better served. ... I look forward to a future where mathematics education is the joint effort of mathematicians and educators." -- H. Wu<BR/><BR/>"How mathematicians can contribute to K-12 mathematics education", February 26, 2006Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6473579720535180332.post-41727028156730676222007-07-06T08:41:00.000-05:002007-07-06T08:41:00.000-05:00You ask a very good question. I've asked a simila...You ask a very good question. I've asked a similar one myself because I don't see "unconditional surrender" about to happen anytime soon. I've stressed many times that for me, this is not a dichotomy of old versus new, it's about what works versus what doesn't. I am simply anti-bad-math. <BR/><BR/>In the meantime, as with any war, there will be casualties. The casualties in this war will be children. Children who leave school thinking math is fun but not being able to do it well. This is simply unacceptable. There has to be a better way.<BR/><BR/>While few adolescents you know may not deliberately use their math outside of the classroom, the good teaching of mathematics will permeate their thinking considerably, perhaps without them even realizing it. It will certainly be be called upon beyond rudimentary arithmetic in that it builds upon skills of logic and reason that are crucial to many disciplines outside of math and science. Further, a strong foundation in mathematics opens many doors that would otherwise remain closed to them. Doors they may wish to open someday.<BR/><BR/>Someday those adolescents will grow up not only wanting music in their lives but also choices. Don't take those choices away in the name of fun. That would be shortsighted indeed.<BR/><BR/>When you walk into the mathematics classroom in the near future you will take on a huge responsibiity and your job will always be a challenging one. The fact that you are considering both sides of the debate is of considerable merit and I thank you for being open-minded. As part of your preparation please learn what you can about cognitive science and long term memory. Science has come along way in the 20 years since the NCTM came up with the Principles and Standards and we know so much more about how the human mind works. It just doesn't support the model of learning and teaching that has been preached for almost 2 decades. <BR/><BR/>Talk to professors of math and science and ask them what is lacking when those students leave K-12. Your job isn't just teaching them the particular grade, it is also making sure that piece of the puzzle you've handed them will fit properly. <BR/><BR/>Don't underestimate the elementary years and the foundations of mathematics because without them, most students cannot make the leaps in critical thinking and discovery that you wish them to make.<BR/><BR/>As a parent, I want my children to find joy in learning but they also need to understand the value of disciplined effort. Just as you would never feed a child an exclusive diet of junk food and candy because they like it and it makes them happy, a diet of math that lacks a strong foundation to build upon is not a healthy choice either.<BR/><BR/>You don't need to throw out what works whether old or new to fit some ideology and be politically correct one way or another. Don't buy into the rhetoric. <BR/><BR/>Evaluate your tools carefully, consider the research, compare the results that have been accumulated over the past two decades and ask yourself is it good math or anti-math? Does it have long term value? Will this help my students be globally competitive someday? Will the piece I help them build today fit in the puzzle of their life tomorrow?<BR/><BR/>The only side you should ever choose in the "math war" is the side of a child. Otherwise, what's the point?concernedCTparenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755180042426047454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6473579720535180332.post-33042215015861128982007-07-06T06:31:00.000-05:002007-07-06T06:31:00.000-05:00Within the next 3 years, I will find myself standi...Within the next 3 years, I will find myself standing at the head of a mathematics classroom. As I prepare to enter the fray of the math wars, I wonder if there cannot be some sort of acceptable compromise, some way to blend old and new into a successful whole. The comparison to music, while witty and effective, leaves out one of the chief differences between teaching math and music. Most children WANT to learn music. They learn scales and modes and theory by day, and then sing Green Day on the way home or play Kelly Clarkson on the piano. They will get the benefits of discovery learning on their own. Very few adolescents that I know will deliberately use their math outside of the classroom, outside of the most rudimentary arithmetic.<BR/><BR/>I certainly understand both sides to this ongoing argument. I am afraid to get caught in the middle and of being hated by both factions. Can't there be some sort of bipartisan accord here?Mr. Lucchesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11489214765844797652noreply@blogger.com